Public policy theory as a framdwork for studying information policy: The case of Canada's Coalition for Public Information

Public policy theories are proving useful in a study of federal policy making for the Canadian 'information highway' Preliminary analysis of the role of Canada's Coalition for Public Information (CM) in the policy process indicates that existing theories such as John Kingdon's policy process theory and the work of William Coleman, Grace Skogstad and Paul Pross in policy community and pressure group theories contribute to a greater understanding of the information policy process in Canada. Kingdon provides a means for setting the procedural and temporal elements of the phenomenon; Coleman, Skogstad and Pross describe the composition and relationships of the community of institutions within a defined policy domain that vie to have their interests addressed in public policy. Analysis to-date indicates that the roles of the federal government and the private sector greatly overshadowed that of CPI.